The Characters:

Sir Robert Chiltern 

(Jeremy Northam)

To the world, this rising star in Parliament has everything - an adoring wife, fame, fortune, an elite career, and all of London at his feet. But what is not commonly known is that he also has a shady past which could cast his future in darkness forever when an old advisory comes to down with scandalous proof of wrong-doing. An old flame of his former employer, the Baron, she has in her possession a certain letter that could forever destroy his reputation.

Unable to tell his wife Gertrude the truth, Robert turns to his best friend, Lord Arthur Goring, for help. But the tables appear to turn on him when he learns that Laura, too, has her hooks in Arthur's past. Will he jeopardize everything for his integrity -- or vote as she has told him on the Canal Scheme? Will he loose everything -- including his wife's love, if Gertrude ever finds out?

Sir Robert is faced with a gut-wrenching decision... that could forever change his life. But only time will tell if he bends or breaks in the wind.

Lord Arthur Goring

(Rupert Everett)

Lord Goring is the most determined man in London to stay single. That is, until an old flame comes to town with scandalous news about his best friend, Sir Robert Chiltern, a rising star in Parliament. Content to be an all-around ladies' man, to disobey his father's "good advice," and sharpen his wits, Arthur soon finds that he is in over his head with Laura Chevely. The woman, whom he was once engaged to for "nearly three weeks," is determined to wreak havoc not only upon Robert's life, but his own as well! 

In the meantime, his attempts to save them all from disaster are jeopardizing his friendship -- and possible romance -- with Robert's brother, Mabel. In addition, his father has informed him that he is to be married within the year, or he'll be cut off without a shilling. Can Arthur pull together enough strings to ensnare Laura in her own evil designs, or will this attempt to help forever alienate him from Robert, Mabel, and Gertrude?

This is the most dangerous game he has ever played, and the stakes are high. This time... Arthur is in over his head.

Gertrude Chiltern

(Cate Blanchett)

Lady Gertrude Chiltern is the most envied woman in London. With a perfect husband, an immaculate house, and impeccable manners, her married name is about to be come the most famed in all of England. But her high aspirations and hopes in her husband are about to be dashed when an old enemy comes to town. Laura Chevely, with whom Gertrude went to school, seems to have her talons in Robert, determined to drag him into the mire.

Concerned that Laura is attempting to win over her husband, Gertrude turns to her best friend, Arthur Goring, for help. But with a crumbling marriage and uncertain future before her, she must wage the greatest battle herself... against whether or not to forgive her husband's shaded past. Will Gertrude swallow her pride just this once, or forever destroy the "perfect" marriage that they have so carefully built?

Will Laura have the last laugh? It's an old battle reignited against two schoolgirls... and the ending is unforeseen.

Mrs. Laura Chevely

(Julianne Moore)

Laura's one purpose in coming to London was to blackmail a rising star in Parliament. What was unexpected was the fact that the man is married to her old enemy, Gertrude... and that her old flame, Arthur Goring, is also ready to muddle her plans. She has invested heavily in a new canal scheme, which Sir Robert plans to speak against in Parliament. Unless she can force him to see things her way, her fortune will be lost.

But Laura is always one for a bet, and when a prime opportunity appears to take Arthur down with her, she welcomes it with open hands. Unexpectedly, her interest in the refined bachelor is sparked once again. But even Arthur won't get in the way of her crafted plans, which now include, more than anything, revenge on an old schoolmate. Will Laura risk everything in an attempt to destroy Gertrude's happy marriage?

Or will her plans be irrevocably altered?

Mabel Chiltern

(Minnie Driver)

Robert's younger sister and a good friend of her sister-in-law Gertrude, Mabel has been in love with Arthur Goring since childhood. But apparently, she is the only woman he does not consider worth looking at. Preoccupied with her plans to rein Arthur in and rebuff the consistant attentions of Tommy Trafford, who proposes every second Tuesday in the most horrible places, she turns to Gertrude for help... and learns that something evil is afoot in London.

Arthur has suddenly started paying too much attention to the newcomer, Laura Chevely. Sir Robert is irritable and unusually concerned. Gertrude has her own suspicions. And when a prime oppertunity to patch everything up comes sliding into the room, Mabel will risk her own future happiness to repair the ill that's been done. But can she convince her brother of the truth? And what of Arthur?

Will Mabel ever find true happiness? or is she doomed to see Arthur vanish abroad with Mrs. Chevely?